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Archive for May, 2012

I want you all to know that I tried to stay away from the blog. I really did. Nguyen and Emami begged me to blog about something other than the 3rd District Supervisors race, Deborah Pauly just made me have to jump back on here with some of her latest hypocrisy. I promise to keep it short and not go on some sort of long diatribe.

Deborah Pauly loves to rail on the corruption that was rampant in the Republican Party during the process of the Carona endorsement back in 2004. I actually agree with her on this particular point, however, she then proceeds to link Todd Spitzer to the evil Carona regime.

Pauly failed to mention one of her largest donors is Mike Schroeder the spokesman for Mike Carona. Through the course of the entire election Pauly has raised $23,468 and $1,800 of that amount comes from Mike Schroeder. That means that over 7.5% of her entire campaign funding comes from former Carona spokesperson Mike Schroeder.

Dare I say, hypocrisy?

I promise that this will be my last post on this issue, and I look forward to writing about other issues that are going on throughout the County soon.

In a disappointing news release that just went out from the office of District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, it has been announced that Buena Park Councilman Miller Oh has been charged with six felony counts of perjury. This stems as a result of him allegedly using fraudulent information on DMV documents to get out of paying for child support. OC Political readers should know that we understand he is innocent until proven guilty, but this certainly does not look good.

Here is the press release:

BUENA PARK CITY COUNCIL MEMBER CHARGED WITH DMV DOCUMENT PERJURY TO AVOID CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS

SANTA ANA – A Buena Park City Council Member has been charged with repeatedly committing perjury on California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) documents to avoid paying child support to his ex-wife. Sangjin Miller Oh, 48, is charged with six felony counts of perjury by declaration and faces a maximum sentence of six years and four months in state prison if convicted. Oh will be arraigned on the charges at a later date to be determined.

Between Sept. 23, 2004, and July 20, 2009, Oh is accused of committing perjury on six occasions by signing official DMV documents using fraudulent information. The defendant is accused of committing this crime with the intention of avoiding child support payments to his ex-wife by hiding his assets under his false name.

On one occasion, Oh is accused of applying for a driver’s license under the name Robert Oh and fraudulently failing to disclose that he had previously applied for a license under a different name, as required by law. On another occasion, Oh is accused of fraudulently failing to disclose that his license had previously been suspended. On four other occasions, Oh is accused of using his fraudulently obtained license to register vehicles.

This case was investigated by the DMV, Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.

Senior Deputy District Attorney John Christl of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.

Have you ever stopped to think about all the redundancy in the educational system?

US Department of Education, California Department of Education, Orange County Board of Education and 28 local school districts/Boards just in Orange County alone.

Is it all really necessary?

Does it really help the children?

With all the talk about local control, charter schools and voucher programs, what if we dissolved the OC Board of Education and distributed their 214 Million annual budget among the 28 local school districts in Orange County?

Deborah Chuang– She is currently the incumbent in this race and had the misfortune of being in Office 1. The reason I say misfortune is because this is likely why her opponent chose to run here as opposed to in one of the other races. Prior to being a Judge in 2009 she was a Deputy Attorney General for 12 years after earning her J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law.

Eugene Jizhak– He earned his J.D. from Newport University School of Law before becoming a general practice attorney. He has appeared on a lot of slate mailers that I have seen but does not appear to be running any direct mail pieces. According to his profile on slate mailers he appears to oppose the early release of “Insane Maniacs” which might be one of my favorite lines from this election.

The factors at play- In these races the most important factor is incumbency. Running in a race where all of Orange County votes you need a strong ballot statement (Jizhak did not get one), an open seat (Chuang is the incumbent), and a very strong campaign (Neither is campaigning very hard).

Looking at all the factors at play in this district I believe that the winning candidate will be:

No, the most important election on Tuesday lies 2,000 miles northeast of Orange County.

In Wisconsin, June 5 is Election Day in the recall of Republican Governor Scott Walker.

Labor unions launched the recall after Walker gained the passage of legislation that restricted (but did not eliminate) collective bargaining (requiring annual re-certification of unions via annual member elections, limitations of collective bargaining to salaries rather than benefits) and increased public employee contributions to benefits and pensions, among other things.

This recall election marks a watershed moment in which the power of public employee unions faces off against those who seek to curb the legal prerogatives of those unions.

Wisconsin has an interesting recall procedure. In California, the question of whether we should remove someone from office is one item on the ballot, with voters casting a “Yes” or “No” vote, and then a separate item on the ballot are all the recall replacement candidates, with the incumbent ineligible to run in the replacement vote. In Wisconsin, there is no separate question of whether someone is removed: there is a single item in which candidates (including the incumbent) run against each other. Effectively, when you initiate a recall in Wisconsin, you’re simply calling for an early election for the office, much like a parliamentary by-election or snap election; whereas in California, we vote whether or not to keep the incumbent and separately vote on a replacement.

There was a recall primary on May 8, with Walker winning 97% of the votes in the Republican primary and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett winning 58% of the votes in the Democratic primary (this is a rematch of the 2010 election, as Walker defeated Barrett in that election); the recall general election is this coming Tuesday, June 5.

A Walker victory will embolden politicians across the country seeking to curb the power of labor unions while a Barrett victory will be a warning from the labor unions that politicians should be wary of trying to reduce the legal prerogatives of public employee unions and trying to reduce the benefits enjoyed by public employees.

Last week anther one of Jim Lacy’s Slate Mailers dropped into my mailbox. As I said with the last one he does the best slates in the business, and this one is no different. I am noticing a consistent trend amongst the slate mailers for the candidates running for Central Committee.

I received this press release on Friday, but didn’t have a chance to post it until today. I found it interesting that the press release quoted two candidates. I think this is the first time I have seen this. Also, the press release include a email chain showing the multiple attempts that were made to try to get Troy Edgar to debate.

Travis Allen and Long Pham Agree to Debate: Troy Edgar Refuses to Debate

May 25, 2012

Huntington Beach, CA – Candidates for the 72nd Assembly District Travis Allen and Long Pham have both agreed to have a debate. Read the rest of this entry »

There has been much talk about the chances of the Fullerton recalls passing in the press, on other blogs, and even a little here and here on this blog. (It is recalls, plural, by the way, since it’s technically three recalls in Fullerton on next week’s ballot, one each regarding Don Bankhead, Dick Jones, and Pat McKinley.)

(All recalls in this post refer to recalls that qualified for the ballot. Recalls that failed to qualify for the ballot are excluded because they are not relevant.)

According to the CSUS study, in an average year in California, there are 16 local recalls, of which 66% result in the officeholder being recalled from office. Specifically, there are 2 county-level recalls, 7 city-level recalls, and 7 school district-level recalls in an average year.

The CSUS data shows that from 1995-2010, there were 256 local recalls, of which 175 recalled the elected official and 81 officeholders hung on to defeat the recall election (a 68% removal rate). Specifically, there were:

35 county-level recalls, in which 24 resulted in the recall of the official and 11 officeholders hung on (a 69% removal rate)

116 city-level recalls, in which 80 resulted in the recall of the official and 36 officeholders hung on (a 69% removal rate)

105 school district-level recalls, in which 65 resulted in the recall of the official and 40 officeholders hung on (a 62% removal rate)

Outside the timeframe of the study, 9 out of 9 city councilmembers subject to recall elections were recalled in 2011. This bumps city-level recalls to a 71% removal rate for 1995-2011. 4 out of 4 school board members defeated their recall elections in 2011, dropping the school district-level recalls to a 60% removal rate for 1995-2011. There were no county-level recalls that qualified for the ballot in California in 2011. The overall rate for all local California recalls for 1995-2011 remains at 68%, the same rate as for 1995-2010.

The above numbers are statewide. Looking closer to home, no Orange County recall has failed since 1996.

2010: Capistrano Unified School District
Mike Winsten was recalled 61.4%-38.6% and replaced with John Alpay.
Ken Maddox was recalled 61.3%-38.7% and replaced with Gary Pritchard.

2010: Mission Viejo
Lance McLean was recalled by a 50.1%-49.9% and replaced with Dave Leckness.

2008: Capistrano Unified School District
Marlene Draper was recalled 69.3%-30.7% and replaced with Sue Palazzo.
Sheila Benecke was recalled 69.4%-30.6% and replaced with Ken Maddox, who would ironically be recalled himself in 2010.

2003: Santa Ana Unified School District
Nativo Lopez was recalled 69.3%-30.7% and replaced with Rob Richardson.

2001: Orange Unified School District
Martin Jacobson was recalled 51.5%-48.5% and replaced with Melissa Taylor Smith.
Maureen Aschoff was recalled 50.9%-49.1% and replaced with John Ortega.
Linda Davis was recalled 51.3%-48.7% and replaced with Kathy Moffat.

Not a local recall per se, but in 1995 in Orange County:
Assemblywoman Doris Allen was recalled 65.2%-34.8% and replaced with Scott Baugh.

Outside the timeframe of the study:

In 1994, the voters of Fullerton recalled Councilmembers Don Bankhead, Buck Catlin, and Molly McClanahan, by 52%-48% margins but left the then-elected City Clerk Anne York in office. Five months after the recall, Bankhead won a new election to the council where he has remained ever since and is now subject to a recall election next week. If recalled next week, Bankhead would likely be the first person since the inception of the recall ever to be recalled from the same office twice.

In 1989, the voters of Fountain Valley recalled Councilman Fred Voss by a 2-1 margin after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for solicitation after he offered $20 to a prostitute, who was actually an undercover police officer.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should note my day job is working in the Fullerton office of Assemblyman Chris Norby, who served on the Fullerton City Council from 1984-2002, but he was not a target of the 1994 recall. One of my co-workers in the office is Fullerton City Councilman Bruce Whitaker, who was elected in 2010 and is not a target of the 2012 recall, but he was one of the organizers of the 1994 recall.)

Memorial Day

May 28 marks Memorial Day, which honors the brave men and women who died defending our freedom while serving in our nation’s military.

Memorial Day is much more than just an excuse to enjoy an extended weekend. It is a sacred day, where every American should take time to reflect on the more than 1 million American service members who have given their lives to keep our nation free.

From the Revolutionary War to the current conflict in Afghanistan, American service members have had to endure numerous and sometimes dreadful challenges to carry out their mission. Given the reality of war, some never came home to see their families. We set aside this important day each year to pay tribute to their memory.

Some of the things that we can do to honor their sacrifice on Memorial Day include:

Flying the American flag at half-staff until noon

Observing a moment of silent prayer during the National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m.

Visiting a veterans’ cemetery and placing flowers or American flags on the gravesites of our troops

Perhaps the most important thing we can do is to vow to never forget the sacrifices of our fallen service members. Given that today’s celebrity-obsessed culture emphasizes vanity and the trivial, it is more important than ever to teach our young people about the remarkable legacy of service, perseverance, and sacrifice that the fallen have left behind. Passing these values on will help ensure the enduring greatness of America. Read the rest of this entry »